AUTOTUTELA Y MANDATO DE PROTECCIÓN FUTURA EN EL CÓDIGO DE NAPOLEÓN. LA LEY DE 5 DE MARZO DE 2007.

Abstract

The role that the principle of autonomy of will plays in institutions for the protection of the disabled has traditionally been very small. Nevertheless, the latest reforms instituted in the matter, in both the Spanish Civil Code and the French Civil Code, give autonomy of will a considerably larger footprint. The Act of 5 March 2007 amends the French Civil Code and introduces self-guardianship, self-curatorship and the future protection mandate. Regulated in greater detail and with more respect for legal safety than our own Code's regulation through the Act of 18 November 2003, the new scheme under the French Code is fated to become a yardstick by which future reforms will be measured, especially in regard to the future protection mandate. By means of the future protection mandate, a balance is struck between respect for individual will, as the source on which instruments for the protection of the disabled draw for sustenance, and judicial control, because ultimately the judge is the only authority that can guarantee respect for the wishes of a person who has lost his or her capacity.